Finding Greatness: Sandy Callaway

Author: News Bureau
Posted: Tuesday, January 28, 2020 12:00 AM
Categories: Finding Greatness | Faculty/Staff | School of Arts and Letters | Pressroom

Warner Robins, GA

Sandy Callaway is pursuing a Master of Arts in Technical and Professional Writing to help her design resources for MGA online students.

Full Name: Sandy Elizabeth Callaway.

Age: 62.

Hometown: Macon.

Residence: Warner Robins.

Family: “I am blessed to have two wonderful daughters, Summer and Autumn (Summer is a Middle Georgia State alumna), and six amazing grandchildren, Dylan, Christian, Grace, Ashlynne, Camryn and Nicholas, all ranging in ages from 11 to 22. Our family pet is a goldfish named Fergie, whom my granddaughter, Ashlynne, won at the state fair two years ago. My family calls me the ‘fish whisperer’ because Fergie will come to the side of his fish bowl and talk to me.”

Employment: “I am currently employed at MGA as an academic resource specialist for the Warner Robins Campus Student Success Center.”

Degrees: Bachelor of Science in Business and Information Technology from MGA (magna cum laude), and a Master of Science in Business with a focus in Management from Walden University.

MGA Graduate Degree Objective: Master of Arts in Technical and Professional Writing.

Career Goals:

“The continued growth of MGA’s online programs brought about new opportunities for the Student Success Center (SSC) to create virtual tools and workshops designed to meet the needs of online students. Engaging students to learn in the online world presents different challenges because you don’t have face-to-face interactions and can’t use use verbal and body language as cues to portray meaning. Because of such limitations, when designing online resources, I must rely heavily on my choice of wording and use of visual aids to convey clear and concise meaning. The Master of Arts in Technical and Professional Writing program aligns well with my professional goal of being able to design and create such resources because each course focuses on mastering the writing skills required to reach and engage an online audience.”

She chose Middle Georgia State University because … “I am a proud alumna of the University and take great pride in working for MGA. My greatest experience so far as a Middle Georgia State graduate student has been being able to apply the concepts taught in class to real-world applications. For example, I applied learned concepts when editing a Wikipedia website, designing a website for a local contractor, and developing an instructional design workshop for the Student Success Center.”

To her, greatness means … “Being able to pay it forward by helping others aspire to their greatness. The opportunity to mentor future generations to achieve their full potential is the most rewarding and humbling work imaginable.  I found my calling here at MGA and even after almost seven years, I still look forward to going to work every day, eagerly awaiting the next student seeking assistance.”